Women groups call to protect civilians in Sudan’s Blue Nile and Kordofan regions

November 27, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – Nearly 70 women and civil society groups condemned the surge of inter-communal violence and the failure of the military-led government to protect civilians in the Blue Nile and Kordofan regions.

At least 97,000 people have reportedly been displaced within the Blue Nile state and into neighbouring states as a result of the inter-communal clashes that erupted in July according to IOM DTM.

Also, violence between the Misseriya and Nuba tribes in West Kordofan’s Al Lagowa locality displaced at least 36,500 people from the area.

69 women and civil society groups issued a joint statement calling on the UN High Commissioner for Human rights to press the ruling military authority to protect civilians across the country including the Blue Nile and Kordofan.

The statement said that the military in Sudan used ethnic and cultural diversity to spark conflict to control the country.

“The current situation in Blue Nile and Lagawa is not the exception where citizens have been manipulated by militarized elites,” added the statement.

The signatories further called to press “the coup authority to hand over power to civilians, and we call on the security authorities to protect civilians across Sudan.”

They further called on the international community to provide humanitarian aid to the displaced women and men in the Blue Nile and Kordofan regions and to assist them in their voluntary return to their villages and homes.

“We call for all actors to abide by the Child Rights Convention by assisting and implementing emergency plans for internally displaced children to continue the school year inside the camps, and when they voluntarily return to their areas of origin,” stressed the groups.

(ST)